Why Do Scotland#s Best Football Academies Have Nothing To Do With Scottish Clubs?

UNTIL this morning, I had never heard of the Edusport Academy. If, as I did, you choose to google it, you will discover a story which, I think, deserves to be known across Scotland.

Edusport Academy is a body which brings hand-picked young French footballers to Scotland, where they are coached in both football and English language. The staff rota, as laid out on their web page, includes some weel-kent figures in Scottish Football, while their team is currently sitting atop The South of Scotland League.

OK, it's only the SOS League, but - Watch that space - bigger waves will be made.

My reason for seeking-out information on Edusport Academy was simple, I had heard of Eddie Walucki-Black's recruitment as Director of Football at Airdrieonians.

I would suggest students of Scottish Football should keep an eye on events at Broomfield - or whatever the club's stadium is called these days. New owner Eddie Wotherspoon has quickly shown he is not going to be dragged into the backward straight-jacket of club management which has held Scottish Football back for so long.

His recruitment of former Scottish Sun Head of Sport Iain King as Chief Executive Officer was, I think, an inspired move. Even as a young wannabee, with the Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald, Kingie did things his way. 

An award-winning journalist, turned excellent newspaper executive, he will bring fresh initiatives and original thought to running the club.

Airdrieonians has done very little since the 1920s glory days of Hughie Gallacher, Bob McPhail and so forth. It will not happen immediately, but, I can see the Diamonds sparkling  in the SPFL Premiership before too-long.

Unless, of course, that other Scottish Football KIng -aka "the Glib and Shameless Liar" and the other big Bears come to their senses and, once they are free to do so, give King, one-time Right Worthy Master of the Lap Top Loyal, the keys to the Ibrox Kingdom.

Well, there is a long and distinguished history of unpolished Diamonds being snapped-up for Ibrox.

HIBERNIAN back in European Football. Who'd have thunked it, but, well done Hibernian Ladies, who will be playing in the Women's Champions League, alongside Glasgow City LFC next season.

Funny how, Women's Football in Scotland is doing so-much better than the Men's game. Do you not think, the dinosaurs on the Sixth Floor at Hampden should maybe be trotting along to the SWFA and asking them for some pointers.

Over the weekend, I caught up with the BBC Alba documentary on Jim Baxter. Now to me, Slim Jim is one of the Holy Trinity of Scottish Football. The other two are Denis Law and Dave Mackay for me.

The programme was a unique tribute to a unique and much-missed talent, Get onto the BBC iplayer and check it out while you still can. A marvellous programme.



Scotland squad to play Poland and Gibraltar:

Craig Gordon (Celtic)
David Marshall (Cardiff City)
Allan McGregor (Hull City)

Christophe Berra (Ipswich Town)
Gordon Greer (Brighton & Hove Albion)
Grant Hanley (Blackburn Rover)
Alan Hutton (Aston Villa)
Russell Martin (Norwich City)
Charlie Mulgrew (Celtic)
Andrew Robertson (Hull City)
Graeme Shinnie (Aberdeen)
Steven Whittaker (Norwich City)

Ikechi Anya (Watford)
Scott Brown (Celtic)
Darren Fletcher (West Brom)
James Forrest (Celtic)
Shaun Maloney (Hull City)
James Morrison (West Brom)
James McArthur (Crystal Palace)
Kevin MacDonald (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Matt Ritchie (Bournemouth AFC)
Johnny Russell (Derby County)

Steven Fletcher (Sunderland)
Leigh Griffiths (Celtic)
Chris Martin (Derby)
Steven Naismith (Everton)
Jordan Rhodes (Blackburn Rovers)

I have no real beef about Wee Gordon Strachan's squad, except, the first call-up for Graeme Shinnie and the recall for Kevin MacDonald demonstrates yet again - very little thought goes into elite player development, or ensuring continuity of selection of the Scotland team.

Guys are brought-in or left-out according to current club form. There appears to be little attempt to build a Scotland system, or to provide career development for players beyond the Under-21 team.

We should have a B team, or an Under-23 team, to plug the yawning gap between our Under-21 and A teams. The majority of our squad members are with clubs which are regularly exposed to European competition. Surely, therefore, it falls to the SFA to find a way to plug this obvious failing.



I had posted this before I caught a glimpse of WGS speaking to the media, on the lunch-time edition of Reporting Scotland.

The Wee Man claimed, we didn't have a world-class player. I disagree, I feel, if you were picking an XI from the biggest idiots in world gootball, Scott Brown would be in there, probably as captain. 

 

Journalism Today - If You Cannot Prove The Facts - Print The Rumours

I do not think anyone will be surprised if, or more-likely when, early in the new week, the Scottish Football Division of Her Majesty's Press Corps are summoned to Tannadice Park, Dundee, where, to nobody's amazement, a suitably stone-faced Stephen Thomson will announce that: "by mutual consent", Jackie McNamara and Dundee United have parted company.

 

It's the way things are done on Planet Fitba; the normal niceties in the serious matter of someone losing his job don't come into it. In fitba, rumour and the search for the next big headline take precedence.

 

We will have  a week or so of "EXCLUSIVE" conjecture as to who will be the next man into the manager's office at the foot of Tannadice Street. Someone will be unveiled as McNamara's replacement, and the circus will move-on in search of the next victim.

 

I feel for Jackie, I really do.

 

 

 

MARK WARBURTON is also, as ever for the man in his job, wall-to-wall across the papers, after his not entirely revealing opinion that the Scottish League needs re-organisation (again).

 

Of course, 12 clubs playing each other three times per season, before the top six and bottom six split for the final five fixtures - is mind-boggling nonsensical NONSENSE.

 

Everyone knows the present system is stupid and does nothing for the quality of the product, but, to expect the other Premiership clubs to voluntarily give up their two home games per season with Celtic, and almost-certainly next season, two more against the Rangers Tribute Act, the only time all season when the majority of the seats in the away end are occupied - Aye Right, it isn't going to happen voluntarily.

 

 

 

The RTA's removal from the League Cup in midweek had the MSM, and in particular the Lap Top Loyal calling for yet another change to the awkward child of the game up here.

 

Since the winners of the third-most-prestigious trophy in Scotland do not gain a place in Europe, this competition offers wonderful scope for experimentation.

 

Why doesn't the SPFL, (for instance), insist on such changes to the competition as:

 

Playing it under the "three foreigners" rule - to encourage youth development

 

Use if for Law experiments - new variants on the offside law for instance

 

Silver or Golden goals in Extra Time; Ice Hockey-style penalties in a shoot-out

 

Doing nothing is not an option. Are there no blue sky thinkers inside the Scottish game, capable of coming up with something to breath new life into the League Cup?

 

 

A Timely Reminder Of How Difficult It Will Be To Reserect "Rangers"

THE Rangers Tribute Act's loss to St Johnstone was THE story of the midweek League Cup ties, at least as far as the Mainstream Media was concerned. But, overall, with Morton beating Motherwell and Hibernian eliminating Aberdeen, it wasn't entirely a good night for the domestic top-flight sides.

Let's be honest here, both the Premiership and the Championship are largely full-time divisions. There is a bit more quality in the top-flight, but, as we have seen over many years, on any given night, in cup ties, relative status will be over-turned.

I don't think Mark Warburton will be too upset at his side losing at home to Saints. The RTA is a work in progress. For instance, if, as expected, the RTA win the Championship this season, the team which they field in the opening game of season 2016-17, will, I wager, be significantly different from the XI which kicked off this season.

The young loan players will go back to English football, there will be the usual turn-over in personnel. Sure, one of the purposes of the RTA is to look like a real Rangers team. RR teams rarely, if ever, lost at home to St Johnstone. But, the side Warburton is managing is not a RR team, it is a RTA team, there is a difference.

Losing to Saints enables the RTA boss to say to the men in the board room: "We are not where we want to be yet". If the view of PMGB, over there in Donegal, is to be believed - and, make no mistake, he has been more on the ball than anyone in watching and interpreting events at Ibrox since 2011, all is not well at the Big Hoose and further pain is ahead.

PMGB doesn't think there is a "War Chest" in place; certainly the club's finances are still in a mess, making the rebuilding which will be necessary once the RTA are in the Premiership, likely to be very difficult.

In the bigger scheme of things, losing a League Cup tie wasn't that big a deal. But, considerable difficulties remain to be overcome, before I can stop referring to the RTA and start calling the Ibrox club, simply Rangers.

As regards the game itself, the RTA payed some good stuff, but, like some Arsenal sides, and they were guilty of this some years ago - they played their best football in front of the St Johnstone defence - there was little or no penetration.

The Perth team were clinical. In the first half, for instance, they were up the park five times, scored twice, Steve MacLean missed a chance he would normally bury, while Simon Lappin forced the save of the night. That's a good return from so few attacking sorties.

The RTA move the ball well, going forward, but, I would like to see the exciting Nathaniel Oduwa taking-on more opponents. He has the skill, let him show it.

As for the RTA defence, least said, soonest mended.

MANAGEMENT, the Lady in My Life, lives close-enough to Rugby Park, to follow events there via the cheering. She said it was particularly noisy there last night, as Hearts staged that late smash and grab raid to eliminate Killie.

The match was, by all accounts, a five-goal thriller. What a pity Kilmarnock appear unable to muster bigger crowds, however.

BBC SCOTLAND gave a wee plug to the SFA Schools of Excellence this week. I remain entirely unconvinced about grass-roots/youth development in Scotland, and, while I wish schemes such as this no ill-will, I don't think it is the way ahead.

On a subsidiary point. Given his experience at Manchester United, Brian McClair might well be the ideal man to lead the SFA's Youth Development Department. Now, call me old-fashioned if you like, but, appearing on tv, unshaven, with an open-necked shirt, to me gave the wrong impression. Also, Brian doesn't come across well as a talking head.

Presentation skills coaching called for, perhaps.

BY the way - Celtic "only" beating Raith Rovers 2-0: good or bad result - discuss. OK, they are in the last eight, job done, but, should they not have won by a greater margin?

These Are Hard Times For Thistle Men

MANAGEMENT put her foot down last week. It was my turn to be off-rota for covering a Saturday game, so, I was telt, in no uncertain terms, we were having a weekend away, which we spent on a sun-kissed Black Isle, with one of our oldest friends.

 

When it came to sport, I was allowed to watch the Japanese shock the Sprinboks in the Rugby World Cup - management has a Japanese daughter-in-law; then on Sunday, see the All Blacks roll over the Argentinian Pumas. As for football, well, I was allowed to check the results via the red button.

 

There was another brief flirtation with fitba, on Dingwall High Street on Saturday, when I exchanged pleasantries with one of the vanguard of Jags' fans, who had trekked up the A9 for their meeting with Ross County.

 

As Ian "Dan" Archer and Big Malcolm Munro (two fitba writers who never made it into the Lap Top Loyal, because they were born and bred "Harry Wraggs") used to mutually assert, when they bumped into one another in Glasgow: "These are hard times for Thistle men"; 'twas ever thus, which is maybe why Thistle are so-many fitba fans' second team.

 

Sadly, once again, in Dingwall on Saturday, it was: "Partick Thistle nil". That said, I would not write them off just yet.

 

 

 

THIS wee stushie about the attitude to bigotry and sectarianism in Scottish football, and how that attitude apparently survives on Hampden's sixth floor - where the football corridors of power are located - rumbles on.

 

 It is difficult, given the well-known Dutch ability to speak English, to entirely believe Ajax's assertion that the SFA told them bigotry and sectarianism was part of the fabric of Scottish football. A wee bit of "lost in translation" there perhaps.

 

But, the fact is, sectarianism and bigotry has been in Scottish football for over 100-years, we comment about it; sometimes we shout about ending it, but, it is still here.

 

Of course, bigotry and sectarianism in Scotland is not confined to football. It exists across the country, it is not a 90-minutes once or twice a week phenomenon. As such, to expect football to eradicate attitudes which are allowed to exist outwith the game is ridiculous.

 

A lot as been done to end it, but, a lot more still has to be done.

 

But, football, and in particular the two clubs with particularly long-standing and dangerous bigotry and sectarianism issues, could and should do more.

 

I have long said: with modern, all-seated stadia, the Bigot Brothers could very quickly root-out the shouty bigots from their home support. They could just as easily do so too with their regular away following.

 

How? Simples, with modern surveillance equipment, they could perhaps pin-point that the offensive chants and songs were coming from a specific area of the ground. They then write to the season ticket holders in that section, telling them: "cut this out or lose your season-ticket rights for two or three games".

 

"Do it again - lose it for longer". "Three strikes and you are out". By rigidly enforcing a zero tolerance policy, the clubs would, I feel, within a season, permanently shut-up the bigots.

 

As far as the away fans are concerned, there is evidence most of the small ticket allocation goes to official supporters clubs. Therefore, if there is sectarian singing and chanting on away grounds, again, using portable surveillace equipment, the offenders could be pin-pointed. Then, the official supporters club branch or branches in that section are told: "Sort-out your bigots or you will not be getting tickets".

 

Self-policing will, by and large, do the rest. If individual idiots will not change, they can and will be isolated and dealt with. All it takes is serious will to enforce change being shown by the clubs and the SFA.

 

Aye - there's the rub. 

A Good Result - Or Was It?

THIS Celtic team getting out of the Amsterdam Arena with a draw, achieved after being reduced to ten men, would, in the normal course of events, be considered a good result.

 

However, Molde winning in Turkey has rather thrown a spanner in the works - given the Norwegians were being seen as the makeweights in the group. This could well be a Group of Death.

 

Celtic scored a couple of good goals, but, so too did Ajax. We know this current squad isn't yet a great Celtic one, but, the same could be said about the Dutch side. I thought, on the night, Ajax played the better football. Their players looked more-comfortable on the ball. As I said, this may well be a very interesting group indeed.

 

 

 

THIS month sees the 60th anniversary of the start of the European Cup, in which, of course, Hibernian competed - the first British club to participate, reaching the semi-final.

 

Hibs fan Aidan Smith, of The Scotsman was moved this week to celebrate his favourites' part in creating football history. Fair enough, but, in his article, Aidan made the familiar mistake, of crediting Eddie Turnbull with a record he does not actually hold.

 

Certainly Turnbull was the first British player to score a goal in the European Cup, but, in spite of 60-years of Scottish claims on the feat, he was NOT first British player to score a competitive goal in Europe.

 

I am afraid that honour belongs to one of two other men. If you accept that he played for a British club, the scorer of that first European goal was Charlton Athletic's South African-born, future Italian internationalist, Eddie Firmani.

 

If Firmani's place of birth and international country rules him out, the honour falls to Cliff Holton of Arsenal. Why the doubt? you ask. Let me explain.

 

The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, later to become the UEFA Cup, now the Europa League, actually started before the European Cup. Entry was restricted to cities which held Trade Fairs and, in spite of the Football League's antipathy and objections to European club competition, the London FA decided to enter a composite London XI.

 

Their team, drawn from all the London-based league teams, actually kicked-off their European campaign before Hibs did in the European Cup. In June, 1955, three months before Hibs kicked-off their European Cup campaign in Essen, London were in Switzerland playing against a composite Basel XI.

 

London won 4-0, Firmani scored the opener, Holton the second. We Scots are quick to bridle when our southern neighbours try to claim Scottish achievements; it is only fair, therefore, that we properly recognise the feats of those London players.

 

London made it all the way to the final of that inaugural Inter-Cities Fairs Cup competition, the trouble was, it took four years to conclude, so, by the time London lost to Barcelona, in the final in 1958, most people had forgotten what the game was all about.

 

 

I HAD to laugh when I read today that Alan Stubbs has praised Scott Cummings for putting-in some extra work to become happier to use his "weaker" left foot.

 

Now, being "one-footed" in football is alright, if you are Jim Baxter, Ferenc Puskas, or Davie Cooper. For such special players, being "one-footed" wasn't a handicap, but, for lesser players, it most-definitely is.

 

I remember, some years ago, watching a Scotland Under-21 cap tying himself in knots almost, in his efforts to get the ball onto his "good" foot. That player had a 17-year professional career, but, when he finally retired he could no more use his right foot than he could when his first club signed him as a trainee.

 

Getting a player to build-up his confidence on a weaker foot is not rocket science. I have a couple of friends, both former players and both now in their eighties.

 

They were the full-backs for their Primary team. The right-back couldn't kick with his left foot, the left-back was hopeless with his right. So, their Head Teacher, who was later mine also, came up with a plan. In practice games, the right-footer had to wear a "gutty" or "sand shoe" on his "good" foot, a boot on his "bad" one. This, remember, was in the days of leather T-balls, which weighed a ton when wet.

 

Later, the right-back won a competition to find the man with the hardest shot in Scottish senior football - using his previously weaker left foot; the left-back won the junior hardest-shot competition, using his previously useless right.

 

So, what's so special about a full-time professional working on his weaknesses? It is what they should be doing - if Scottish football and clubs were truly professional. 

Mourn Milne Yes, But, Spare Us The Tragic Genius Stuff

I HAD meant to comment sooner on Ralph Milne's death. Of course it is sad when a man fails to reach his alotted three score years and ten; more so when his own life-style choices and behaviour apparently contributed to his early demise. But really, some of the MSM guff in the wake of his death has been, in my opinion, nauseating.

Let's be honest, I was covering senior football when Milne was playing for Dundee United. Yes, that United squad was a good one, but, Milne, while capable of the odd moment of magic was one of the journeymen - to me he was a good, but not great player.

His return in caps terms of three appearances for the Under-21s does not indicate a player who while looked on then as potentially Scotland class - would be persevered with. The Under-21 games are a test arena, that is where the men who matter in terms of Scotland's international side find out if promise shown in domestic games can transfer into the harsher international arena. That is where the Scotland management team find out if the youngster has the discipline and attitude which will be needed for World Cups and European Championships.

Clearly, Milne failed his auditions. He didn't "train-on" and take that final step from club player to international one. Yet, from the tributes penned, you would think he was "the one that got away"; the great Scottish talent we didn't recognise.

I accept Ralph Milne had talent, more than most, but, he, like so many other Scottish players before or since, didn't make the most of that talent. That was his tragedy, not Scottish football's. There was something not quite right about some of the tributes last week.

 THE difference between Glasgow's currently first and second-ranked senior teams was starkly demonstrated this week. Celtic lose at Aberdeen and the MSM's sports desks go into overdrive. We didn't have the cracked crest graphic dragged out - didn't you know the two cracked badges, for you know who, are kept in a special file marked: "Pre-set headlines and graphics" in the Chief Sports Sub-editor's hard drive, ready for instant access when needed - but they did drag-out the "Celtic Crisis" headline.

Yet, Celtic are still in what is seen as their rightful place, in the top two of the Premiership, while poor old Thistle, well, they are foot of the table and the old "Partick Thistle nil" jokes are being trooped out.

I have a feeling, somehow, the Jags will sting back; aye, they may well stagger through this season, but, I'd still rather cover games at Firhill than Celtic Park. Like most, I've got a soft spot for the Maryhill Magyrs.

I've also got a soft spot for Jordan McMillan, the player the Jags sacked after he tested positive for cocaine. That soft spot is a bog just down the road from my house, by the way. What a stupid so-and-so.

Of course, poor wee put-upon Jordan is protesting his innocence, claiming he was slipped a cocaine-spiked "Mickey". Maybes aye, maybes naw son, but, if you're hanging about the sort of places where cocaine is regularly to be found, you are clearly not living the dedicated footballer's life-style.

I used to see McMillan playing regularly, when he was loaned-out by Rangers to Queen of the South. he looked like a good player in the making. I felt he got something of a raw deal at Ibrox, since when, like so many former Old Firm youngsters, being rejected by his one of the Bigot Brothers seemed to sap his spirit and he never fulfilled his potential.

He is indignantly protesting his innocence, but, I'd say I have more chance of becoming Football Correspondent of The Times, than he has of getting his two-year ban rescinded.

My advice to Jordan is: Serve the time, find a job and keep fit - then you have a chance of maybe getting a gig in the Juniors or the First or Second Divisions. And, stop being so stupid.

By the way, am I the only one who wondered at him being described in the MSM as: "Former Partick Thistle player Jordan McMillan"? OK, he was with the Jags when caught, but, once upon a time, the Rangers connection would have been flagged-up. Is it now worse to be aligned to Rangers than to be a cocaine user?

A COUPLE of my fellow coffin-dodgers in our Wednesday morning bowling group are getting a wee bit over-excited this week.  Somerset Parkers since the days of Peter Price, before Ally's first spell in-charge, they are delighted to see the Honest Men lying second in the First Division.

They are, however, not 100 per-cent Ian McColl fans. This is nothing new, wee Ian does divide opinions between fans of whatever club he is managing, but, give him his dues, he does get results.

I've always liked him, his post-match press conferences were always enjoyable, I wish him well this season and beyond.



THERE is a wee puff piece in the Hootsman today - it may be elsewhere as well - with Ian Durrant. This is supposed to be boosting a new club lotto, in support of the RTA, but, this being the MSM, it's all about Durranty, the great Ibrox Survivor.
In it, the wee man claims he is Ally McCoist's best friend, but, that he hasn't had a chance to speak to the Constant Gardener since his (McCoist's) departure. FFS, Coisty was put on gardening leave nine months ago, and his "best pal" hasn't had a chance to speak to him about it.
If I was Ally, I'd be choosing my best buddies more-carefully from now on.



UEFA has caused a few dummies to be spat-out, whilst various teddies and other soft toys have been thrown from prams, by suggesting the SFA is less-than-rigorous in weeding-out sectarianism from Scottish football.
Tell us something we don't know, the way the followers of a couple of clubs have been allowed to constantly re-fight the religious/political battles of Irish history in and around the football grounds of Scotland for over 100-years, this does Scottish football's image no problems.
The finger-pointing and whitabootery in the comments sections of the newspapers which carried the story - well, nothing new there either.
I don't care if: "they started it"; or if: "We're not as bad as them" is used as an excuse or explanation. It is time it was stopped. But, I don't see the will in either board room to stop it. Sectarianism sells seats - simples.
I reckon, if ever given the chance to be CEO of either club, I could stop sectarianism inside the ground within a season. Outside the ground, I would need to be First Minister, and have my next five or so successors, bound by blood to the same plan.
Hopefully, once we become a progressive, independent, grown-up 21st century nation, Scotland will finally see the back of sectarianism. But, being in the second half of my seventh decade, I am neither holding my breath to see this, or even expecting to be around when the last sectarian bigot in Scotland snuffs it.  

 

It Was "Phasers To Malky - Level Five" Last Week

IN CASE you haven't noticed, the King was ower here rather than ower the watter last week. It was difficult to miss his flying visit, after all, the media spin was turned up to Level 5, so the Lap Top Loyal would dutifully take his pronouncements and spread the news abroad.

If the Rangers Tribute Act was doing as well off the field, as they currently are on the park, there would be no need for such blatant spinning. Phil the Donegal dissenter may indeed be an anti-Rangers obsessive, and a third-rate journalist, but, when it comes to what has been going on down Edmiston Drive, he has been consistently ahead of the game and of the MSM since Sir David Murray rashly accepted the £1 offer for the club from yon "billionaire" with "wealth off the radar", all those years ago.

Downfall didn't mean the institution had stopped falling; it hasn't bottomed-out yet and, as I have repeatedly said on here, the school fees and trust incomes of several children of leading lawyers will be getting topped-up for a few years yet.

Mr Warburton's management style thus far, with its heavy reliance on English imports and more-particularly, loan deals involving promising young FA Premiership talent is not the answer when it comes to converting the current Tribute Act into a re-born Rangers.

It is a fairly safe bet, at the moment, that the RTA will win the Championship and be in the Premiership next season. IF the imported youngsters, particularly those up here on-loan, continue to perform as they have thus far, there is every chance they will be re-called by their English clubs for next season.

If, for instance, James Tavernier, continues as he has started, he will be a transfer target for Premiership clubs come the end of the season. Rangers will probably make a profit on him, but, there is no way I can see him still being at Ibrox next season - or, if he is, watch for a move during the January 2017 transfer window at the latest. Rangers, could keep their stars; the RTA cannot hold-out when a big English club comes for any Englishman playing for the RTA.

Goings-on around Ibrox will continue to entertain, but not inform, us, for a wee while yet.

AND what of recent events across the city. Celtic posting a loss demonstrates the mutual inter-dependance of the Bigot Brothers. Certainly, the Matthews and van Dijk transfer fees will help next year's accounts, but, the simple fact is - these two clubs NEED each other more perhaps than any other rival clubs in world football.

You still have to fancy the Hoops to win another League title this season. By the law of averages, Aberdeen were about due to beat Celtic. But, beating Celtic - even if they only win the two home games - is not the key to winning the title.

As I have long held, any other Premiership club can get itself up for the challenge of beating Celtic (or a resurgent Ibrox team) at home twice a season. Just as any one of a couple of hundred professional golfers is capable of putting together four very good rounds in a row, to win one of the "Majors"; the secret is winning CONSISTENTLY.

Motivating your team to beat Celtic, in front of a Pittodrie full house, should be fairly simple - if players cannot get up for that, they are not fit to be described as "professionals". Motivating them to travel to a flat Rugby Park, lacking atmosphere, on a mid-winter midweek, is a challenges which, if not met properly, can derail championship aspirations.

Derek McInnes needs to keep his men motivated and focussed. He also needs Robbie Neilson's Hearts to put the weekend's loss at Inverness behind them and get back to keeping pressure on Celtic, and Aberdeen.

Mind you, given the long history of Scottish football, we could well see Aberdeen losing at Hamilton this midweek, to undo most of the good work they did against Celtic. If they can avoid this loitering banana skin and pull-out a five-point gap, this early in the season, who knows what might happen come May.

  

We're Awe Doomed - Doomed Ah Tell Ye!

WHERE do we go from Here? Probably not to France next summer. That's my take on last night's loss to the Germans.

 

This was one game which Gordon Strachan had almost certainly written-off. I certainly felt the best we could hope for was a draw, except, the Germans didn't have the bad night at the office which we needed them to have, for this to happen. But, we are still not out of things, given how the remaining matches fall.

 

Mind you, having a long memory, I remember how, the main reason we failed to make the World Cup Finals in 1966, wasn't that injuries forced us to field Ron Yeats at centre forward in the final game in Naples. No, it was because, from 1-o up, with five minutes to play, we managed to lose to Poland, at Hampden, in the ante-penultimate match of that campaign.

 

It was two points for a win back then. We took all four from our games with Finland, two of the four against Italy, but, only one out of four against the Poles. That's the principal reason why, I am not counting my chickens for our meeting with them next month.

 

Of course, we are already banking the three points we will win against Gibraltar in Faro in our final qualifier. OK, the Gibraltarians are by far the weakest internaitonal side in Europe, but, this is Scotland we are discussing.

 

In a final, chips-are-down, must-win situation, my admittedly jaundiced view of Scotland's prospects isn't so-much "Murphy's Law" - If it can go wrong, it will; it is more "O'Reilly's Corollary" to Murphy's Law - That Murphy always was an optimist.

 

Even then, IF we scrape into the play-offs, this being Scotland, I expect us to draw one of the big boys, who has had a horrendous qualifying campaign - the Dutch, I understand might fit the bill here. They suddenly find their form, we get thrashed and can take our normal position come the finals - noses pressed longingly to the outside of the windows.

 

IF we don't qualify, it will mark a sea-change in the Tartan Army's relationship with Wee Gordon Strachan. At the moment the ginger one remains a TA icon. We like him, we appreciate what a good player he was with Scotland, he came in at a difficult time, he liftd our spirits, but - remember, 24 nations in the finals represents roughly 45% of the countries in membership of UEFA.

 

If Scotland cannot be in the top 45% of international countries, then we have failed. We are clearly not as good as we think we are. We have failed to match our own expectations. At the start of the new season, we were ranked 30th in Europe, nowhere near good enough for own sense of where we should be, but, if we do fail to qualify - that ranking will be a reality check.

 

Mind you, there have been a few reality checks over the years, but, reality never seems to intrude on Hampden's corridors of power.

 

I make the following forecast now, on Tuesday, 8 Septembr, 2015:

 

We may still qualify automatically, but this is now unlikely

Our best hope of qualifying is via the play-offs

If we get there, we will most-likely meet a "better" team, who will beat us

If we do qualify, we will, again, be "home before the post cards"

Qualification alone will be seen as vindicating the status quo in Scotland

Nothing will change - and we will continue  to struggle and under-perform

 

SCOTTISH FOOTBALL REQUIRES ROOT AND BRANCH REFORM - FROM THE PREMIERSHIP RIGHT DOWN TO SCHOOLS AND YOUTH FOOTBALL. UNTIL THE WILL IS THERE FOR A TRULY WIDE-RANGING AND COMPREHENSIVE REFORM OF OUR STRUCTURES AND ATTITUDE - SCOTLAND WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE A GLORIOUS FOOTBALL PAST AND A TERRIBLE FUTURE.  

Rooney - He's Over-Rated

IN CASE you didn't notice, Wayne Rooney yesterday equalled Sir Bobby Charlton's England goal-scoring record, when his penalty against San Marino, his 49th for his country, brought him level with his Manchester United predecessor.

 

Well done oor Wayne, except, with a strike rate of 0.46 goals per game, Rooney, in truth, doesn't even touch the magical 0.5 gpg mark, the bottom line for a genuine international-class striker.

 

He actually is now dead level with Sir Bobby, and as everyone knows the younger Charlton brother was more a midfielder who weighed-in with a few goals, rather than an out and out striker.

 

In fact, if you want to check-out the list of genuine world-class English international strikers, ie, guys who hit the net regularly over a lengthy career, rather than being hot for a season or so, Rooney doesn't make it.

 

England's top post WWII striker, in terms of goals per game, was actually Tommy Lawton, a man whose top-line career was ruined by that second global conflict. Lawton scored 22 goals in 23 internationals, giving him 0.96 gpg, more than twice as prolific a rate than Rooney's. Second in the list is 'The Lion of Vienna', Bolton icon Nat Lofthouse, who scored 30 goals in 33 internationals - 0.91 gpg.

 

Then comes Jimmy Greaves - 44 goals in 57 internationals - 0.77 gpg, followed by Gary Lineker,48 goals in 80 internationals - 0.6 gpg.

 

Of course, none of these true legends played in "The Greatest League in the World", as the tame English media now terms the over-hyped, over-priced and over-inflated FA Premiership.

 

Scotland's top two post-war goal-scorers, Lawrie Reilly and Denis Law don't quite match the statistics of England's top four. Reilly's 22 goals in 38 internationals equates to 0.58 gpg, while Law's 30 goals in 55 games shows he scored at a rate of 0.55 gpg. Still better than the "world-class" English strikers of the Premiership years - Michael Owen, Rooney and Alan Shearer.

 

Given that England has usually been a better team than Scotland, attacking more and creating more chances, Law and Reilly are right up there and definitely above the 0.5 gpg threshold which separates the great from the merely good.

 

Of course, if you want to see a truly prolific British international goal-scorer, you need look no further than Wembley Wizard Hughie Gallacher, whose 24 goals in 20 internationals comes out at an unbelievable these days 1.2 gpg.

 

Never mind, we cannot have the FA Premiership and its few "English Stars" undersold, can we?

 

 

 

ON A weekend when, for no good or apparent reason, there were no Premiership games on in Scotland, you might have expected the MSM to have lowered their sights a wee bit and maybe covered some of the lesser leagues a wee bit better.

 

Naturally, those members of the Lap Top Loyal, not on Scotland duty, filed their prasie of the RTA, perhaps waxing a bit more lyrical, but, for instance, there is precious little recorded about the second preliminary round of the William Hill Scottish Cup.

 

This is a wee bit disappointing, particularly as the mighty Talbot got their campaign off to a winning start by beating Hermes 4-0 in Aberdeen. Tucker Sloan's boys are unlikely to win the big Scottish this season, but, with the right draws, they could go far, and, having got their Troon reverse out of their system, I would, were I a betting man, fancy a wee wager that the Junior Cup will be back at Beechwood come next June.

 

 

 

GOOD to see our Under-21 team winning in Nornireland at the weekend, by the way. 

 

 

WAD but some pooer the giftie gie us - tae see oorsels as ithers see us.

SOME of these days, the words of the Bard will be ingested by the numbskulls who inhabit the upper corridors at Hampden. Just because, back in the early 1870s, Queen's Park came up with the passing game, the other Scottish teams adopted this form of "cheating", as the English claimed - Scotland went on to rule the world, before exporting their idea - doesn't mean we are still relevant in world football.

 

Indeed, after last night's latest "Disaster for Scotland" in far-off Tbilisi, the chances are, we will not even be relevant in British Isles football. Imagine, and given last night's results even Ra Peepul have sufficient imagination to foresee this: it might happen that, when France 2016 kicks-off, with the European Championship up for grabs, England, Northern Ireland and Wales could all be there, with we Scots in our usual position, outside looking in.

 

It might be even worse. The Republic of Ireland just might pip us for third place. Being by birth and upbringing a typically dour Scot, the wind permanently in my face, I cannot see us, after last night, finishing first or second in our group, so, we might as well start now, to contemplate our route to France being via the play-offs. Given this, the odds against us reaching France just got higher.

 

I do not blame Gordon Strachan for last night's defeat. Gordon can only pee with what he is given, and the real baddies in the decline, fall and continued struggle of Scottish international football - the SFA coonsillors, not forgetting the other club officials who put them there will, once again, as has been the case since we first ventured outside the UK in 1929, will get off Scot-free and be allowed to continue to smother and ruin the national game.

 

That our players lack the technical ability of the average continental player has long been obvious. Have our coaches done much about this? No, because they do not get the support from the money men at their clubs to put in what Bobby Robson dubbed: "time on the grass" to sort-out the players' inadequacies.

 

The concept of 10,000 hours being required to properly master and hone talent is well known.  In Scotland, we are yonks away from achieving this.

 

Allow me to explain. Most kids start playing at Under-8. Let us assume we have a kid with the natural talent and ability, plus the desire to make it as a footballer, who has joined a reasonably good Boys Club team.

 

Up to Under-12, he is probably playing seven-a-side, short-sided games, he trains with the club twice a week, for 90 minutes a session. This means, by the time he is through Under-12 fotball and about to step-up to 11-a-side games, he has had 675 hours to hone his natural talent.

 

He is then spotted by his local club and gets into their youth coaching system. Between Under-12 and the decision, taken when he leaves school at 16, that he has a chance of making it as a footballer, he will train more, perhaps logging an additional 1900 hours (three 90-minute sessions, 45 weeks per year), meaning, our new apprentice footballer has 2575 hours under his belt - he is a quarter of the way to the 10,000 hours target.

 

But, as a footballer, he probably does two hours per day, four days per week, so assuming he makes it all the way through to Under-21 level, he has accumulated a further 1800 hours of practice - he is still less than half-way to the 10,000 hours target.

 

Compare this with the regime Andy Murray was thrown into as a 14-year-old, when he left Scotland for Spain, to live, train and learn in a 24/7 tennis environment. No wonder Andy is now Number Two or Three in the World and the Scottish international football team is Number 31.

 

Right, I accept in this instance, I am comparing an apple with a bunch of turnips, but, Friday night in Tbilisi was yet another example of the fact - Scottish football is broken, but, there is no apparent desire to fix it.

 

We have guys playing international football who, I am sure, would not get a game with any other country. For the first 100-years of the English Football League, if they had picked a composite team of the season it would have been awash with Scots, in fact, in most seasons there would have been a majority of Scots in the chosen XI. Today, there is not a single Scot in the FA Premiership who could get onto the bench even.

 

Up here, the situation is even worse. WGS selected only two home-based SCots in his team in Tbilisi, the Celtic duo of Charlie Mulgrew and Scott Brown. Now, with the best will in the world, Mulgrew is not even one of the two best central defenders in the Scottish Premiership, while national skipper Brown really needs to be given a long rest.

 

I cannot think of a Scotland captain having less impact on a game since Jim Leighton, given the captaincy on his 50th cap, was more or less a spectator against a shot-shy Chile back in 1989.

 

We are possibly (being unusually optimistic) two to five games away from our first major tournament since 1998 - WGS still does not have a settled central defensive pairing. Russell Martin and Grant Hanley looked, 18-months ago, as if they might fit the bill. WGS has split-up the pair as starters.

 

We have in Alan Hutton, a right-back who cannot get into his club's first team, but, is now within touching distance of joining the exclusive 50-caps-plus club and entry into the SFA's Hall of Fame. He has done this, not because he is a special talent, but because - there is nobody else.

 

He is not the only one to get into the national side due to lack of alternatives. The only position in which we have any strength-in-depth is goalkeeper, and, to be frank, neither David Marshall, Craig Gordon or Allan McGregor would get into an all-time Scotland XI.

 

We are in a mess. We will be unlikely qualifiers for France 2016, and, if, by some miracle we do qualify - we will be there to make-up the numbers.

 

We are in a mess and, I for one am sick of this.      

Congratulations To A Very Special Player

I SHALL post regarding Scotland's Euro qualifier in Tblisi later, meanwhile, I would like to pay tribute to a very special former Scotland player, on what is for him, a very special day.

 

"The Firhill Flyer", Partick Thistle right winger of the 1940s and 1950s, Johnny MacKenzie, celebrates his 90th birthday today. Congratulations Sir.

 

Johnny is the second-oldest living Scotland internationalist, only former Rangers goalkeeper and national team manager Bobby Brown, is older. MacKenzie, however, has a special claim to fame.

 

Of the 1100-plus players who have represented Scotland in full internationals, only MacKenzie, or John-Archie as he is known to his fellow Gaels on Tiree, where he has lived in retirement, is a native Gaelic speaker.

 

Born in Glasgow, to a Skyeman father and a mother from Tiree, young John Archie was raised on Tiree, that island paradise beloved of surers, speaking Gaelic on a daily basis.

 

He later returned to Glasgow to complete his schooling and to start work as an engineering apprentice. He played for Petershill at a time when the Peasies were THE junior team in Scotland. Rangers wanted him, but, after being instructed by Bill Struth to do nothing until he heard from Rangers, he became tired of waiting and joined Thistle.

 

These were halcyon days at Firhill, and MacKenzie was soon ensconced in the number 7 shirt. He went on the Scotland Tour of North America in 1949, playing in the notorious game when Scotland lost to Belfast Celtic, but, he had to wait until season 1953-54 for his first Scotland cap. This was, after all, the time of the Waddell v Gordon Smith debate for the number 7 shirt with Scotland.

 

He played in the ill-fated 1954 World Cup Finals campaign, before, after a stand-out performance for Scotland in the game against the Hungarians, then the outstanding international team in the world, no less a judge than Ferenc Puskas hailed MacKenzie as the best winger he had seen. In spite of this reference, MacKenzie won only eight caps - still a Thistle record until surpassed by Alan Rough.

 

Throughout his career he was a part-timer, working in the engineering works from Monday to Friday, before lighting-up Firhill on a Saturday.

 

He hung up his boots after a final splash in Ireland with Derry City, went back to the workbench and worked until retirement, when he returned to Tiree, to a small cottage overlooking the harbour, where, cared-for by his daughter since his wife's death, he lives to this day.

 

Robert Reid (Mr Partick Thistle) and the other Firhill old-timers who saw him play are few in number now, but, they still insist he was the club's greatest talent.

 

Have a very happy birthday John Archie - and many more to boot.